September 2007

Sep 25, 2007

Apparently the doctor missed a test...so who knows? I may be just going to Nova Scotia this Saturday.
I played my last gig with Amer last Saturday....I think we sounded pretty good. With all the fussing I do with my "sound", I ended up plugging right into the amp and using 1 pedal, and it sounded fantastic. The bar wasn't what I expected though....upstairs part was cool, but we played in the basement....and it looked and felt like a dude's basement. I'd like to say it felt like the Cavern Club.....but minus some shag carpet....it felt like a guy's basement. But the energy was there, and a good crowd, so I guess that's what counts. I went from thinking Dogfest was going to be this huge outside Lollapalooza thing...(ok...I maybe didn't think it'd be that big.), to having it be in a bar, and in my mind, a pretty cool bar....to walking in and thinking, ok....I'm 18 again and playing a house party cuz his parent's are out of town. Except I had to pay for the beer.
I'm going to miss playing and rehearsing with those guys.....it was fun, and like I said...we sounded pretty good. I hope my parts end up on the album.....
Ok...gotta kill some time and go to the doctor and see if I can straighten this crap out so I can get out of here and play some music. And the pedal I ordered is still sitting in Windsor waiting for someone to pay the duty......damn.
Sep 16, 2007
time is running out. Still learning the songs, but I'm getting this highschool feeling and I left a report till Sunday night to do.
other than that...more recording with Amer the other day...8 hours of overdubs. not bad...I think I got some ok solos in there....a fair amount of coffee. one more day of that.....
The gig went well the other night...thanks to all who showed up. A nice time for my last gig in Toronto...well, for a long while anyway. Next stop, Peterborough....then off to the ship. I got my tests back, no syphilis, no hepatitis.....I'm in! Other than a new suit...I'm ready to roll.
went to Brighton yesterday.....Lynn and I decided to take a little day trip out of the city and do something different.....went on the base in Trenton for a while to see my old house. Interesting...and it's the same thing everyone says....everything looked much smaller. What used to seem like a huge walking adventure, was really just a little jaunt. Put some pictures up on the flickr site...just stuff from presquille. You walk around with a camera there, and all the other birder folk think you know what your a) talking about and b)doing. Some guy asked me as he walked by if there were any good photo ops over where I was ....err...you know..ummm.....yah? The only birds that came to mind where pigeon, seagull, and red belly sap sucker....and I wasn't about to say any of those....I think I then mumbled "errr, geese".
Sep 13, 2007
Recording the bed tracks for Amer's cd was a pretty good time. It was really just one long day...got a lot done. I'm going back in on Saturday to overdub most, if not all the guitar parts. I tanked more than a few solos. It's a really strong album though....looking forward to hearing it done.
Speaking of Amer....I have a gig with him at the Cadillac lounge tomorrow night....not only is it my last night in Toronto with his band, it's my last gig in Toronto for a long while....after September I'm bailing on the cruise ship, and decided to just not come back. Probably go to Nova Scotia...but who know?
I just got my graphics pad delivered....nice. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if it was broken.....the delivery person kind of waddled up the hallway, with a huge box, and basically dropped it in front of the door and got me to sign for it. I opened the box...cool, lot's of padding...but only one side. So it was put flat in the box..then the top padded.
yah..nothing else right now. lot's of learning songs and waiting to leave.
Sep 4, 2007
Ahh, the show with Surf's Up in the Bahamas didn't pan out......too good to be true. So, that's that....no more surf's up gigs in the foreseeable future. I was hoping it was going to go out with a bang. No Bang. In like a Lion, out like a Lamb. First gig I did with them I was thrown in a motorhome and drove none stop to Tunica, Mississippi....a hotel in the middle of a cotton field, (with heavy reno going on...), having everyone in the band getting sick as a dog....my first casino gig. Got to go to Graceland and bond with Jeff Scott a little. El Paso was next on that trip...having the motor home break down, seeing a cactus...a big Charlie brown cactus...prairie dogs. It was just cool seeing more of the states....the most I'd done was buffalo. Then the 54 hour none stop drive back.....Then off to Hong Kong 3 weeks later. I think our last gig was at a RV park.
Sep 3, 2007
Relaxing weekend.....tried out my new lenses at Lynn's parents, sat on the deck all day chatting, taking pictures of birds, my feet, Lynn, and anything else that went into my frame of view....nice bbq.
Today I'm trying to clean up this room. I managed to get a video on youtube, watching a Kiss dvd, and getting some stuff organized. Think I might have to go back to the radiologist tomorrow and get a letter or something for this cruise ship thing. Really, this sort of stuff should be left to someone else.....I'm a little too scatter brained for it. Then to the studio to set up for Amer's cd. It's going to be a long week. After the record is done, and the medical stuff is out of the way....maybe I can relax a bit.
Sep 1, 2007
Friday morning.....woke up, no coffee, no breakfast....went to the doctor. Nice guy, paid him money, he grabbed things, asked questions....set up the blood work and x-rays. And he was totally on time too. Had to get weighed.....whoa. There needs to be some exercising. Hopefully I can take advantage of the gym on the ship.....cuz ol' Shawn needs to lose like 35 pounds. ouch. 13 years on my ass at a desk.....being miserable. Can't be good for the metabolism.
Anyway....Go over to the other part to get the blood out......she was good, didn't hurt at all. (although I almost puked when I saw my blood......hate that.) Oh, and urinated in a cup. I hate that. Well, I hate the actual.....bringing it back and giving a stranger a cup of my pee. I always say "sorry". Could just be the Canadian in me.
Fine, that done...went for the chest X-ray.....x-ray machine down. Great....can I come back on Tuesday....yes.....s'pose so. Jumped in the car, went to Mississauga to L.A. Music to pick up my guitar with the new pickups and the setup. Nice. Really nice......They did it fast, they did it well....it looks and play amazing. Wish I brought my stuff there a long time ago. When I got my guitar done at some other plays...no names, but either it wasn't done well....or it was done ok, and there'd be finger smudges and the like.....It was spotless when I got it back.
so drove back home, back to the X ray place to see if it was fixed...yes...ok...shirt off...click, click......done.
Going back to the doctors in a week to get all the results and pick up my copies of the reports and lab work and blah blah.....then hopefully there will be no troubles getting on this ship.
Kind of getting the jitters for going into the studio with Amer and the guys next week. It's not like it's unlimited time to work out solos and get down stuff.....off the floor, two intense days of rock. I'm bringing my camera, so hopefully there will be some great "Linda Mccartneyesqe" pictures I'll be able to get. To me, she's the coolest rock and roll photographer. Just got such natural shots from people....just hanging out backstage.....and great shots......iconic stuff. So, hopefully Amer will get Uber famous, and I'll be able to retire off my shots I took.